Identifying the 'Poor' Using Binary Classifiers in Rural Bangladesh

Discussion on poverty very often refers to various dimensions of income and non-income approach of measurement. Even the simplistic explanation of raw or extreme poverty involves much about different indicators ranging from commodities or characteristics to well-be ing, material deprivation to low achievement and capabilities. Problems of poverty assessment have been extended from setting a poverty line to identifying the poor and the intensity of poverty. Amartya Sen (1976) in his pioneering work on Poverty and Famine has noted that the concept of poverty must involve the issue of identification of poor and the issue of aggregation of the set of poverty char acteristics. Before reaching an aggregate measure of poverty, Sen (1976) emphasised on identification of the poor. He argued that due to variation in the physi cal features, climatic condition and work habits, the method of nutrition intake commonly used to identify the poor would involve shortcomings. The debate also go es to whether quantitative or qualitative techniques give more realistic view of pove rty. Perhaps the most critical point in measurement of poverty is the use of appropriate metric of household characteristics in both quantitative and qu alitative perspectives. In spite of spectacular methodological advances in poverty analysis, a number of conceptual and measurement issues are found to be addressed.